


we're making friends with our ghosts and letting them teach us how to live

by thequiet_ones



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Allydia - Freeform, Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Friendship, Multi, girls
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2017-11-09
Packaged: 2018-05-23 19:53:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6128296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequiet_ones/pseuds/thequiet_ones
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Allison Argent, college sophomore and all around sweetheart, has the best friends on planet earth. They're her life. So what if she still wants more; that's not greedy. So what if what she wants is a specific red-headed goddess.</p><p> </p><p>Lydia Martin, rising star, on the fast track to the Field's Medal, has no time for attachments. She's a double major with a job. So what if her roommate is her only friend. So what if she's a little lonely; nothing a brief fling won't fix.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Allison**

Allison sighed. 

The comforting sounds of her friends’ conversation washed over her as she stared aimlessly down at her plate. The salad currently on her plate was too depressing; the sad, wilted leaves mocked her. She should have gotten pizza and those stupid, soft chocolate chip cookies. It wasn’t like she was really in danger of getting scurvy-that was Stiles.

A distracted glance around the dining hall revealed nothing that caught her eye. It was one of three on campus and very clearly the oldest of those. The tiled floor, despite Allison assumed nightly moppings, was dingy and off color. A few feet from her was a large, seemingly permanent tomato sauce stain, either that or somebody had been murdered there a couple of years ago. Most of the tables wobbled and there was a vague moldy smell that lingered in the air. However, the food here was the same as it was at the others and there was much less of a crowd for obvious reasons. 

The firm press of a foot against her leg brought her attention back to the table. 

“Stiles,” she sighed, forever long suffering, “That’s my foot, _again.”_

Across the table from her, the boy grimaced, jerking his foot away so quickly his knee slammed against the underside of the table. The last time, yesterday, she had just stomped on his foot without the warning.

“Sorry, Al,” Stiles apologized, one hand reaching up to tug at his purposefully messy brown hair in nervous habit. 

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

Allison returned her attention to her salad. It was soggy now too from the dressing. Maybe she was just tired. Or it could be that stupid essay hanging over her head. 

She glanced at her watch and then at the entrance of the campus’ dining hall. _She_ usually came in ten minutes before now like clockwork. Allison sighed again. This was getting ridiculous. She would just get cookies then and head back to her dorm room to watch Netflix, procrastinating the paper. 

She looked away from the doors, suddenly aware of the silence at their table. Both Scott and Stiles were giving her matching pity expressions, Isaac had his sad, puppy dog eyes trained on her, Erica just looked amused at her suffering, and Boyd-Boyd was just eating as if he didn’t care. He was her new favorite. 

“Well, it’s not like you were actually going to talk to her. Just stalk her with your love-struck eyes,” Erica drawled, teasing mercilessly like she had been doing since the first time Allison laid eyes on the beautiful red-headed goddess. 

“Hey!” Allison glared back, short on actual comebacks, considering that Erica spoke the truth. 

Scott shook his head at Erica. “She is kind of right though, Allison. Lyd-”

“Shhh! Don’t say her name. Somebody will hear and tell her,” Allison hissed, waving at them. 

Erica laughed at her, stealing food off of Scott’s plate while he was distracted. 

“Maybe that would be a good thing. She’s clearly not going to figure out how you feel any other way,” Scott suggested cautiously.

“We’re not in middle school anymore, Allison. It’s accepted practice to ask the person you like out on a date,” Erica continued, always unfailingly, brutally honest. 

“No, neither of you,” Allison accused, pointing her fork at Stiles and Scott, “can say anything. Not everyone gets to meet their soul mate in first grade and live happily ever after like you two.”

The boys just smiled dopily at each other. Scott whispering the words “I love you” across the table.

“Ugh. Guys,” Allison groaned. 

“Don’t diss love, Allison. We’re beautiful,” Stiles replied, smirking. 

“No, no. She’s right. You two are disgusting. I get cavities watching you two,” Erica complained. 

Allison grinned at Erica, glad for the change in topic. “You have no idea. You didn’t spend four years of high school with them. They were so much worse then. Stiles used to do all of Scott’s homework for him just so he wouldn’t get moved out of any of their AP classes. The one class they did have apart they spent the entire time texting each other. Scott failed that class because and I quote, ‘He couldn't concentrate with Stiles not there with him’.” 

“Oh my god,” Erica laughed, “ You have to tell me more.” 

“There was the time-” Scott slapped a hand over Allison’s mouth, quieting her. 

“Don’t think we don’t know you’re just trying to distract us,” Stiles said cheekily. “Let’s return to the subject of your stalking habits.”

“I’m not stalking her,” Allison protested the moment Scott removed his hand. 

Scott sent Stiles one of his patented ‘too far bro’ looks before turning back to her. “Of course you aren’t, Al. It’s sweet. You know we just want to help you.”

Erica laughed again. “No, no, I’m definitely here for the teasing.”

Allison glared back at her. She wasn’t really mad though. That was just Erica. Last year, their freshman year of college, they had met and quickly become friends. The first female friend Allison had ever made. For so many years it had just been her and ScottandStiles.

Isaac cleared his throat, finally speaking up, a blush reddening his cheeks, “Stalking’s not all bad. That’s how I met all of you.”

“Yes, back when you stalked our dear Allison here before you found out she’s hella gay,” Stiles joked, patting Isaac’s shoulder. “We’re glad to have you with us though, buddy.”

“Hella, Stiles? Really?” 

“But seriously Allison! Me and Stiles have a plan,” Scott interrupted. 

“Oh yeah!” Stiles sat up straight in his seat, excited. “So, you know I work with Lydia in the tutoring center so you could just come in one day and ask for ‘help’ in one of your classes. And then I’d introduce you two since she’s our best tutor and then she falls in love with your adorable dimples. Happily ever after.”

Allison shook her head. “Thanks Stiles but no. I’m barely handling statistics; she’s taking like Applied Mathematical Theory and Differential Equations. I don’t want her to know how stupid I am.”

“Hey, no, no!” Stiles said, angry. 

Both Scott and her winced all too familiar with the speech that would soon follow. One of Stiles biggest pet peeves was when either her or Scott called themselves stupid or said anything negative about their intelligence. It was sweet and earnest but hard coming from a guy who was a year younger than them because at four years old he had already been reading at a fifth grade level. 

“…Allison, you are a genius. Don’t let anyone tell you different, including yourself. We have a very flawed educational system. It is not your fault. You are so smart in so many amazing, practical ways. Anyone can see that,” Stiles continued passionately. 

“Of course, Stiles. Thank you,” Allison agreed quickly, grinning at the boy. 

He narrowed his eyes at her. “I know you’re just agreeing to shut me up.” 

Allison stood up, gathering her dishes. “Yeah, but thank you. Look, I’m just going to head back to my room now. I have an essay to finish tonight. We’re all still on for Friday night though, right?”

“Of course!” Erica smiled wickedly while the rest of the table nodded, even Boyd. 

“Okay. Love you, Al,” Scott said, looking up at her with his ridiculous puppy eyes. 

“Yeah, yeah. Love you guys too.”

On her way out of the dining hall she grabbed a stack of four cookies. She would need them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyy, hope you liked it! I quit watching pretty early on (like 6 episodes into season one hahaha) so none of the new characters will be in this, except for Kira, even though I've never actually seen her in an episode. That's what AU's are good for though.


	2. Chapter 2

**Lydia**

Lydia pulled another dress out of her closet, twirling it around. 

“I’m thinking this one for Thursday with the red flats. Good, right?”

“Lydia, you really need some girl friends or, at least, a guy actually interested in clothes,” Danny groaned from where he was stretched out across her bed, working on his Intro to Physics homework. 

“They’re either unworthy or I’m attracted to them,” Lydia dismissed airily. 

She had friends. It was better than high school where she had no one she could be real with. She had dated Jackson, a lacrosse player, that she had no romantic interest in, and let people think she was a stupid, self-obsessed, rich girl. Meanwhile quietly drowning her self-hatred and loneliness in alcohol and the pills she stole from her mother. 

It wasn’t like that anymore, hadn’t been for two years now. She had Danny and Jackson, who was actually okay once they broke up with each other. She still looked back at her high school self with a shudder sometimes. It was all so ridiculous and melodramatic back then. 

Clearing her thoughts, Lydia shook the dress in her hands. “Now help me pick out my outfits for the rest of the week or I won’t help you finish your homework.”

“You’re evil, you know that, right?” Danny sighed. “Is physics even that important? I’m a computer science major.”

“Plebian,” she mocked, “If people actually stopped to understand math and science rather than memorize a few formulas they would see how important it is.”

Danny rolled his eyes. “Sure. Yes, to the dress and shoes. Wear your hair in the loose curls and you already chose what you’re wearing for Friday. Now help me with this one. I keep getting the wrong answer.”

Lydia leaned over him, only glancing at the book. “You’re using the wrong constant for K.”

“Shit,” he muttered, scowling at the book.

“We’re all going to Jackson’s party on Friday, right,” Lydia asked, still looking through her closet. 

“Ethan and I are coming but Cora’s brother, Derek, is going to be in town so she’s hanging out with him,” Danny replied carefully.

Lydia paused, the way Danny spoke tipping her off to something suspicious. Suddenly she whirled around, pointing an accusing finger. “Wait, wait. Not the Derek you had that crazy three night stand with last year?”

Danny moaned, the words muffled by the physics book he had pressed his head into, “God, I was really hoping you wouldn’t remember that.” 

Lydia laughed, grinning widely, “Please, it was all you would talk about for months. There were a lot of uncomfortably, graphic details involved in some of those stories. Oh my god! You told some of those in front of Cora! Does she know? Oh my god. This is too great!” 

“God, no. She doesn’t know. I didn’t even know he was her brother until a few weeks ago. It’s not like there were last names involved. It was a one night stand and-” 

“Three nights,” Lydia interrupted gleefully. 

“Same thing. But you cannot tell Cora! You know how she is about her family,” Danny said.

Lydia grimaced, nodding. 

“So I suppose that means you won’t be seeing him?”

“Even if I was going to be that selfish to Cora, I am dating Ethan, remember?” 

“Yeah, yeah. I know,” Lydia agreed, settling on her bed beside Danny, “Mostly kidding but some of those stories were pretty intense and you did talk about it for months.”

“It was just sexual. I would expect you to understand since you and Jackson had good sex for years even when you had zero romantic feelings for each other,” Danny reminded her. 

“Yeah, I get it. I do. Never any judgment from me. So you and Ethan?”

Danny sighed. “I don’t know. There’s a lot going on with his brother.” 

Lydia said nothing in reply, letting her silence to the speaking. She had never been particularly fond of Ethan. He was okay but Danny deserved so much more than just okay. 

Closing his physics book, he sat up, narrowing his eyes at Lydia. “We sure have been pretty focused on my love life-What about you? You haven’t done anything more than one night stands-respect. Do you even have an interest in a relationship?”

No, she didn’t. 

“If I found someone worth spending my time with, I wouldn’t be completely opposed to the idea. I’m a math and physics double major and I have a job, I don’t have time to waste on dating someone not worth it,” Lydia explained logically.

Danny sat his work off to the side, watching her with narrowed eyes. “Fine, but do you have to be so rational about everything? Live a little. Make some mistakes. If anyone can handle dating on top of your crazy schedule, it’s you. Worst case scenario the date’s awful and you can come tell me about it and we’ll make fun of whoever it was,” he suggested.

“Relationships are such a pain and if I’m going on an actual date it’ll be because I decided to not because you said I needed to,” she argued. 

“Fine. That’s all I want. Now, about that kid that works at the tutoring center with you-Stiles, I think? Is he available?” Danny asked. 

Lydia wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Ew. Flannel and t-shirts is all I have to say there.”

“Really? I would have thought you two would have gotten along-brain wise, at least. And the kid looks like twink porn,” Danny grinned, making a crude gesture. 

Lydia shook her head furiously, “Ew, ew, ew. Nope. Anyway from what I can tell he’s basically already married. His boyfriend brings him these little homemade lunches everyday he’s working and kisses him on the forehead-the forehead. And the sandwiches are heart-shaped. Trust me, you are not getting in there. You are right about his brain though.” 

She paused, thinking. “There is another kid that hangs out with him that looks even better for you though. I see them at the dining hall a lot. Good cheekbones, curly blonde hair. I don’t know his name though.”

“Hmm. You should invite them all to the party Friday,” Danny decided suddenly. 

“Seriously?” Lydia asked. 

“Yeah, if you don’t, I will. If nothing else those frat parties could use some variation, it’s always the same people. You’ll see Stiles at work tomorrow right? Just tell him to bring his friends on Friday,” Danny bargained. 

“Fine,” Lydia huffed in mostly fake irritation, “Are you done with physics yet? I need my beauty sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for the kudos from the first chapter! Ehhh just another intro kinda chapter. Hope you like it though!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Allison**

Allison didn’t finish her paper until 2 a.m., really she could’ve been done earlier… but procrastination. 

She had gotten on Facebook to see if anyone in her group from her animal physiology class had replied to the message about their meeting time. An hour later, she had suddenly sat up, checked the time, and realized she was all the way back in Lydia’s 2012 Instagram photos. 

Needless to say when her alarm went off at 8:00 in the morning, she was not happy. She rolled over, groaning and grabbed her phone. Checking her email, she prayed for the miracle of her morning class being canceled. It hadn’t happened yet but she was a dreamer. 

The only thing there was a text from Erica about meeting for lunch. 

Groaning again, she forced herself out of bed, thankful not to have a roommate this year. 

It was a little lonely but for next year they were already looking for a place off campus big enough for them all. Allison couldn’t wait. Back in high school, their teachers had called Stiles, Scott, and her the three musketeers, said trouble followed them like a cloud. She couldn’t imagine the shit they would get up to with everyone living under the same roof. 

Class dragged on that morning like the drawn-out exposition of a book. Both her 9 and 11 o’clock assigned an unholy amount of work to do. Allison was pretty sure someone should have warned her about the sheer volume of papers she would have to write in college. 

Lunch with Erica was always the distraction she needed. Erica, who had yet to decide a major, and was just taking a bunch of different classes, always had a ridiculous story to tell. 

Walking into the dining hall, Allison glanced around under the pretense of finding Erica. And there sitting at a booth with three equally gorgeous people was the beautiful red head. Lydia Martin, star of Allison’s most embarrassing daydreams. 

“Allison!” Allison jerked her head over, finding Erica standing beside her, a smirk on her face. 

Lately, it was a perpetual smirk.

Erica grabbed her wrist and began pulling her through the crowded dining hall, “Come on. I’m sitting over here. Stiles is here too. He already got you some food.”

“Thank god. If I had to wait through one of those lines I was going to start rethinking my stance on cannibalism.”

Erica snorted, joking as they approached their table, “You sound like Stiles. No need to be so melodramatic.”

“Hey, I resent that. Scott says I’m hilarious,” Stiles defended himself. 

“You’re sleeping with him. It doesn’t count,” Erica deadpanned. 

Stiles stuck his tongue out at her.

“Weak, Stiles. Don’t make me get a new bantering partner.”

Stiles grinned wickedly, staring Erica down, “Please, you would never replace me. I’m just tired from last night. Scott and I were trying something new. I-”

“LALALAALA,” Allison sung over Stiles, interrupting him, “You two are not doing that right now. I can’t listen to stories about you and Scott and you know that just leads to Erica talking about her and Boyd’s sexcapades. And those make your’s sound vanilla.”

“Sorry, Al,” Stiles apologized, even as he continued to make faces at Erica. “I’ve got to go to work anyway. I’m just here to grab coffee. I’ve got a student at the tutoring center waiting for me. See you both for dinner at 8?”

“Yeah,” Erica and Allison confirmed, watching the boy weave his way out of the building. 

“So how was class this morning? You have the one with the crazy teacher today, right?” Allison asked, eating the grilled cheese Stiles had gotten her. 

“Ugh, yeah. He spent nearly the entire class telling us this story about the time he ate an entire ice cream cake by himself and then vomited for the rest of the night. Except he drew it out to twenty minutes-no exaggeration- and then said that he was sure we could all understand how that story applied to what we learned in the last chapter and dismissed class.”

Allison snorted. “I think I already know the answer but did it apply?” 

“No, not in any way. It made absolutely zero sense and it’s not like he really taught anything from the last chapter,” Erica growled, “I don’t even know if this is funny any more. I took this class because I wanted to see if I’d be interested in it. If I could actually do it and he’s not teaching us anything.”

“It is still the beginning of the semester maybe it’ll get better. What class is it? I don’t think you ever said?” 

Erica looked down at her food, like she planned to ignore the question entirely, before setting her fork down, making eye contact again. 

Allison put her sandwich down, swallowing the food that now sat heavy in her mouth. Erica was clearly preparing to tell her something important. It wasn’t like it had never happened before but Erica could so often seem entirely removed from anything serious, teasing and sarcasm more her style. 

“It’s Introduction to Curriculum and Instruction for Students with Disabilities. I was thinking that maybe I could be a teacher or counselor for kids with disabilities. I could be for someone else what I didn’t have then,” Erica said softly. 

Allison reached out, laying a hand on top of one of Erica’s, squeezing gently. “Erica.”

“I know I’ve been on the new medication for at least three years now and it cleared up my face and I’ve only had the one seizure since then but sometimes I still feel like that girl. And if it all fell apart, if I started having them again so frequently I know most people would still treat me like that girl. That last one I had was at the beginning of freshman year-just before I met you- and apparently people were just standing around watching me, a couple of guys were even laughing. Anyway that’s how I met Boyd. I woke up in the hospital and he was there. Told me he had gotten me on my side and called 911. Someone else later told me that after the ambulance took me never-hurt-a-fly Boyd broke someone’s nose.”

Erica paused, shook her head, and took a deep breath. “I just think I could really help some kids. This-this could finally be where I fit.”

“Erica. Ok. Ok. We’ll fix this then. Is there any way you could still switch to a different section of the class with a different professor? Or maybe get the material for the class and just teach it to your self. I’m assuming people have already complained about the professor to the Department Chair?” Allison asked, sitting up, desperate to offer a solution.

“Oh people have definitely complained but apparently he has _tenure, of fucking course._ And I don’t know about switching to a different section but I’ll ask about it. That might work. Thank you Allison, really. I should have talked to you earlier. I forgot about your manic need to solve people’s problems,” Erica smiled brightly. 

“It’s not manic. It’s attentive,” Allison argued. 

“Sure. Now what about your day? Did you finish your paper?”

“Yeah, at 2 in the morning cause I’m clearly a masochist. She liked my first one well enough though so I’m not worried,” Allison replied, rolling her eyes at herself.

“That’s not too bad. Last semester, I watched the entire first season of Hannibal instead of studying for my finals. Still nailed them all. Granted I was taking some ridiculous classes,” Erica laughed. 

“Ugh, that reminds me I have Statistics in a couple of hours and I want to go over the homework again for the quiz. Do you want to come to library with me?” 

“No, I’m meeting Boyd at Starbucks in twenty minutes. You could come though. We won’t distract you from studying,” Erica offered. 

Allison shook her head, standing up from their table, swallowing the last of her sandwich, “Yeah right. Have fun with Boyd though. I’ll see you for dinner. And make sure you talk to someone about trying to get out of that class.” 

“Yeah, I will. Thanks Allison. Good luck studying.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter compromising largely of nothing. ( I wanted to give this a feel of real college life though for whatever reason so we have terrible tenured professors, finishing a paper at 2 am, what the fuck should my major be) I promise things begin to happen in the next chapter. Ugh. I hope you like it anyway blah blah blah. Thanks for the appreciation on the previous chapters!!!!


	4. Chapter 4

**Lydia**

“Stilinski! Wait for me,” Lydia called out to the man-child, catching sight of him passing their table. 

He stopped, standing obediently still despite the petulant look on his face. 

Once she was standing beside him, purse over her shoulder, he began speaking, “Lydia oh Lydia, light of my life. What could I have done to earn your attention?”

“Don’t make me regret this,” Lydia scoffed, rolling her eyes, “I was instructed to invite you and your posse-”

“Dear god, don’t let any of them hear you call them _my posse_. Erica would actually burn me at the stake,” Stiles groaned dramatically, interrupting her. 

“Excuse me,” Lydia sniffed, “As I was saying, Jackson, my only frat guy friend, is having another one of his house parties this Friday and you and your friends have been officially invited. Don’t make me say it again.”

“This doesn’t seem like your idea.”

“So?”

“I just assumed you weren’t the type to respond well to someone telling you to do something.”

“No, I’m not,” Lydia agreed easily, “But that hardly makes me a bitch and it would be a bitchy move if I refused to do something a friend asked me to do. Also, I have my motives.”

“The motives part would be what I’m worried about,” Stiles continued undaunted. 

Lydia nodded, approving of his refusal to accept the invitation at face value. Danny had been right when he said they would probably get along well. He was patient-anyone who worked at the learning center had to be. He was loyal. His sarcasm was actually amusing. And even on the first day of meeting her at work, he did not once assume that he was smarter than her. Also, he had a long-term, serious boyfriend and could be trusted to only playfully flirt with her. 

He was someone she could grow to trust. 

“I’m not a fan of my friend Danny’s current boyfriend and I think your little curly blonde haired friend would be a much better fit for him.”

Stiles was quiet for a moment, walking beside her, “Isaac. Yeah, yeah. Isaac’s bi and single and I’ve heard Danny’s got a pretty good reputation for treating his boyfriends well. But is Danny actually ready to break up with this other guy? I’m not putting Isaac in a bad situation.”

“Oh trust me that won’t be a problem. Danny just doesn’t like being single. I’m betting that within a hour of meeting Isaac he breaks up with Ethan if not before that. The two of them have been circling the drain for a while now and Isaac’s much more his type anyway. He was all ready to jump your bones, actually, before I told him you were essentially married,” Lydia explained. 

“Why’d you do that? I’ve always wanted to know if Scott was the jealous type,” Stiles whined.

“If you want that just invite him to one of your tutoring sessions with Matt.”

“What!?” Stiles questioned, mouth hanging open obscenely.

“Matt-he spends most of his sessions with you flirting outrageously. Have you really not noticed?” She rolled her eyes. Guys were so oblivious. 

“No, of course not. I thought he knew I was dating someone. Why would you tell me that? Why would he do that? I’m supposed to be helping him today. Now it’s going to be so awkward,” Stiles wailed, face in his hands. 

Lydia laughed. “Oh honey, trust me it’s already awkward. That’s a given with you.”

“Hey, I thought we were bonding here,” Stiles accused. 

Lydia snorted. “Look, he’s not actually made a move, right? So, you can choose to ignore him and forget I ever told you anything or you could try gently turning him down or you could just recommend he starts getting help from one of the other tutors and avoid him. What subject are you even helping him with?”

“Gen chem,” Stiles sighed, “It’s fine. You’re right. I hadn’t even noticed what he was doing so it’s not like it’s a big deal. I’ll just pretend I still know nothing. Maybe mention Scott some more.”

Entering the library, Lydia stepped in front of Stiles to stop him, “If he does make you feel uncomfortable though, tell someone, Miss Dianne, Scott, me. You don’t need to put up with it.”

Stiles shrugged, looking away from her. “I know.”

“Just making sure. Now about the party on Friday. Can you all be there?” Lydia asked.

“I’ll ask them tonight at dinner. It’s not like any of us have actual plans so it should be fine. We usually just go out to our favorite bar and then come back to Scott and I’s apartment to watch movies until we all pass out.”

Lydia rolled her eyes. “You guys are so boring. Come to this party Friday. It’s at the TriBeta frat house. Do something wild. It’s college.” Lydia didn't know what she was talking about; she couldn't remember the last spontaneous thing she'd done in ages. She'd spent the majority of last weekend hard at work with one of her professors in her research lab. She suddenly, desperately wanted him to agree; the thought of some new faces at one of these frat parties was exciting. 

“Thanks for those inspiring words. The majority of us on our scholarship. We literally can’t afford to be stupid. And trust me, Scott, Allison and I were crazy enough in high school to last a lifetime.”

“Idiot. I’m not telling you to throw your life away. You can have fun without being stupid or dangerous.”

Stiles tilted his head, grinning. “I’m pretty sure stupid and dangerous was Scott and I’s tagline in high school.”

Lydia laughed, against her will. 

“I’ll talk to them tonight and let you know. Now let’s go. We’re going to be late to work,” Stiles agreed with an exaggerated sigh. 

Lydia nodded, content enough with the conversation to not need the last word. She followed Stiles up the library stairs into the wing designated for tutoring services. 

At one of the tables to the far left she could see Matt already sitting with his textbook out, waving at Stiles eagerly. She elbowed Stiles in the back. 

“Look who’s waiting for you,” she teased. 

“Shut up. Maybe he’s just overly friendly and you misinterpreted it,” Stiles shot back, walking away.

“Not likely,” Lydia muttered at his retreating back. She could see creeper a mile away.

Glancing around the various tables designated for math and physics courses, Lydia looked for students she wouldn’t want to murder within ten minutes. 

Lydia both hated and loved her job. She had no interest for people that didn’t take school seriously and no patience for the abysmally slow ones either. 

So that was a definite no to the two frat boys sitting at the college algebra table, scrolling through some girl’s Facebook photos laughing with each other. She strode past their table to the Thermal Physics one where a lone girl looked ready to murder her calculator. 

“Can I help you?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go. Finally, their lives are beginning to converge. Thank you to everyone who's shown their support!! Hope you like this chapter too!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Allison**

Allison dropped her backpack to the floor and slid into a seat across from Boyd at their usual table in the far left corner of the building. 

She sighed, rubbing her temples. 

“Long day?” Boyd asked. 

“Ugh, not really. I’m just pathetic. I completely slacked off in my last class and my notes for the last 20 minutes are just a bunch of scribbles. And Lydia’s here…sitting with a bunch of lacrosse players, reminding me of just how straight she is,” Allison explained, tilting her head back to indicate the table a few away from them in the center of the room. 

“Look, Allison-” Boyd started. 

“God, I’m sorry. You don’t want to listen to me complain about this. How was your day?” 

“No, no. Just listen for a second. I sat alone at lunch for all of high school. I got here and all I wanted was to find a group of people I could sit with, that included me. And I have that now and it’s the best thing. But I can still recognize someone that hasn’t found their place. That girl, Lydia, she might be surrounded by those people but she’s really sitting there alone. Maybe she is straight, maybe she isn’t. But she could probably use some friends,” Boyd explained, looking at Allison.

Allison stared back at Boyd, slightly dumfounded. It was probably the most he had spoken to her in the almost two years they had known each other. She had somehow neglected to appreciate how perceptive he was. 

“Hey guys. What’s going on?” Erica greeted, dropping into the chair beside Boyd. 

“Boyd was just giving me some advice,” Allison said, smiling at Boyd, “Thank you. Really.”

Erica looked at them two of them as if hoping they would tell her more. 

Erica huffed when they only grinned back at her. “Where is everyone else?”

“I don’t know about Scott or Isaac but Stiles said he was going to be late,” Allison told her. 

“Well, I’m not waiting to eat,” Erica announced, standing back up and disappearing into the crowd of the dining hall. 

“I assume you’re suggesting I should try to be friends with her even if there is no hope for a romantic relationship?” Allison asked, returning to their conversation. 

“Don’t roll your eyes,” he huffed, sounding for a moment more like her dad than she was perfectly comfortable with. “Look at Isaac- he started hanging out with us because he liked you and now he stays even though he knows there’s no chance for anything romantic because he likes you, likes all of us. People get too caught up in all this relationship stuff. Think about Scott and Stiles. Why is their relationship so good-they’re each other’s best friend.”

Allison nodded, scratching at the leftover nail polish on her fingers. She desperately wanted to cross the table and hug him but worried that he might actually spontaneously combust from a feelings overload. “Ok, I get it. Thank you, Boyd. Next time I’ll come to you first for advice. Clearly you’re too smart for us.” 

“Of course he is. He’s the only one here that’s not an immature loser. Right babe?” Erica agreed, setting her plate down next Boyd.

He just grunted an affirmation, smiling up at Erica. She grinned back, elbowing at Boyd as she sat down. 

“You should both get your food. It’s only going to get busier. I’ll save our table,” Erica told them. 

Allison got up, cracking her back as she went. Really she just felt like taking a nap at the table and worrying about eating later. She needed to think about what Boyd had told her too. 

Walking back to their table some time later, Allison clutched a bowl of cereal guiltily. Her mother hadn’t been dead long enough for Allison to completely ignore the sound of her voice declaring that cereal was not dinner. It was still stupid things like this that randomly threatened to bring her to her knees. She brutally shoved all thought of her mother away; it could wait for the next holiday. 

She ran a hand through her hair and took a deep breath, approaching the table. 

Scott and Isaac were also there now. Everyone was leaning against the table, faces close, whispering furiously. 

“What’s going on?” 

Scott looked up at her with wide eyes and then turned back to look at the others. 

Erica just laughed at the display. “Sit down, Allison. We’re not planning your murder. Stiles apparently has something to tell us whenever he plans on getting here.”

“He’s on his way. His lab ran a little late,” Scott defended. 

“I’m just saying you don’t text people saying you have important news and then make them wait for it. It gives me time to get excited when it’s probably just going to be a letdown.”

“What exactly did the text say?” Isaac asked Scott. 

“Uh,” Scott stalled, fumbling for his phone. 

“This is going to be like the time he saw that guy that only ever wears a Hogwarts uniform and carries around a fake wand, isn’t it?” Erica groaned. 

“Okay, that guy was awesome, Erica. Don’t pretend he wasn’t. And I don’t think so-Stiles doesn’t really sound excited about whatever it is,” Scott replied, making a face at Erica. 

“It was a text, Scott. How would you know what he sounded like?” Isaac asked, smirk on his face, looking towards Erica for approval. 

Erica grinned back at Isaac. “Look guys, the puppy is catching on to our form of affection-teasing, sarcasm, and snark.”

“You two are ridiculous,” Scott dismissed, his reddened cheeks detracting from his words, “Okay. The text says, ‘Going to be late but got news when I get out of the stupid lab exclamation point.’”

“He used an exclamation point. What makes you think he’s not excited?” Boyd asked reasonably, not even looking up from his food.

Scott blushed again, cutting his eyes to Erica and Isaac. “He would never just use one exclamation point if he was excited and there are no emoticons.”

Erica giggled delightedly but Allison just rolled her eyes. Considering Scott and Stiles’ relationship, it wasn’t at all shocking they knew each other’s texting style. 

“Plus if Stiles was really excited about this he would already have told Scott all about it,” Allison added.

“It’s true. I can’t keep anything from Scotty,” Stiles admitted dramatically, approaching their table just as Allison finished speaking.

“Hey,” Scott greeted, looking up at his boyfriend. 

“Hey,” Stiles replied, before kissing Scott quickly. He sat down in the chair beside Scott, scooting it even closer until they were neatly pressed together. 

Grabbing one of the slices of pizza off Scott’s plate and ignoring his protest, Stiles taunted, “I assume we’re talking about my news right? I think we should play a guessing game for it, like hangman.”

“Stilinski!” Erica threatened. 

“I’m not protecting you from her,” Scott warned him. 

“Fine, fine. So after I left Allison and Erica at lunch, Lydia and I went to the tutoring center ‘cause we have the same shift today,” Stiles paused, glancing at Alison, “and I swear I didn’t mention you, Al. Don’t worry. But she invited all of us to some party at the TriBeta frat house this Friday.”

Allison’s heart sped up just at the prospect of being at party where Lydia would be, that Lydia had invited them to.

“Wait. Why is she inviting us to this?” Allison asked, eyes narrowed at Stiles.

He shifted nervously. “She wants Isaac to date one of her friends.”

Isaac sat up straight, turning to look over at the table where Lydia was sitting. “Who? Male or female?”

Stiles shook his head. “He’s not over there. It’s Danny. He has some long last name-M something. He’s hot and pretty nice from what I’ve heard. I met him once at the tutoring center.” 

Isaac pulled out his phone. 

“Are you looking him up on Facebook?” Scott asked, laughing. 

“Don’t judge me. I know I’m shallow,” Isaac replied, making a face at Scott. 

“Well, I think we should go whether or not Isaac thinks he’s hot,” Stiles volunteered. 

Erica grinned like a shark at Allison. “I agree.”

Allison groaned. 

“I’m sure there will be a ton of people, Allison. You probably won’t see her at all. And-”

“Oh we’re definitely going. Look at this guy,” Isaac exclaimed, thrusting his phone out to show them all. 

Erica whistled. “Damn.”

“Told you,” Stiles said, grinning smugly, “Also if we don’t go I think Lydia might kill me. She was very insistent.”

“I’m in,” Scott said.

“Boyd and I too,” Erica nodded eagerly. 

They turned to Allison. “Yes, yes. Of course I’m coming too,” she sighed. 

Stiles cheered. “First house party!”

Allison knew she was being ridiculous, she did. She was Allison Argent, not some sissy girl. She didn’t usually have this issue, flirting, dating but Lydia was different. Maybe because she wanted more than just a fling with her, maybe because she liked her for more than just her looks. Probably it was more to do with the fact that Lydia was like bottled intimidation. She could probably have the President on his knees with a few sentences. 

Isaac bumped shoulders with her. “Smile. Somebody could be falling in love with your smile.”

Allison grimaced. 

“Come on, Ally A. Me and Stiles will stick be your side if you’re that worried,” Scott said.

Allison did smile then. The nickname never failed to make her happy. She could always count on Stiles and Scott. She could count on all of the people at this table. It really didn’t matter what happened with Lydia, she was going to have fun at a party with her friends. 

“I love you guys.”

“We know,” Erica laughed, she smiled softly at Allison though. 

“Okay, okay. Let’s move on. We’ve talked enough about my love life. I don’t need Ly- What?” Allison started, stopping with a confused look when Stiles and Scott both started making faces at her, shaking their heads. 

Silence at their table.

Cinnamon. 

The distinct feeling of someone standing close behind her. 

And just out of the corner of her eye, a flash of strawberry blonde hair. 

Lydia. 

And then her voice talking, Allison had to resist a shiver. 

“Have you asked them yet?” Lydia asked, no demanded. 

“Yes, we’re all coming,” Stiles replied, rolling his eyes. 

Scott was watching her with wide eyes as if worried she was moments from a panic attack. She was sure if she looked over at Erica, she’d be laughing. As it was Allison was frozen, too scared to move at all. She was just glad Lydia was behind her where neither of them could see the other. 

“Excellent. Now can I expect you to do your job?” Lydia asked, moving so she was behind Isaac, putting a hand on his shoulder. 

“Yeah, of course. Get into your friend’s pants,” Isaac quipped. 

Allison watched out of the corner of her eye as Lydia squeezed Isaac’s shoulder. “No, wrong. Danny needs a healthy, stable relationship. If all you’re interested in is a one-night stand, I’ll find someone else.”

“No, yeah. Sorry, I was kidding. I’m in,” Isaac stuttered. 

“Good, good,” Lydia praised, withdrawing her hand from Isaac, “Be at the Tribeta house at 10.” 

And then she was sauntering off like the royalty she was. Allison turned to watch her, taking note of her heels and the way her curls bounced as walked. She sighed heavily. 

“I think I understand now,” Isaac said slowly to her when she turned back to their table, “I have a serious fear boner now.”

“Yeah, that was legitimately terrifying. Sorry Isaac,” Stiles apologized. 

Erica just grinned wickedly. “I like her!”

Allison shook her head, muttering, “You would.” She went back to her eating her now slightly soggy cereal, letting her friends’ voices wash over her. 

She was going to do something about this stupid crush.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come yell with me about girls. ooopsydaisy.tumblr


	6. Chapter 6

**Lydia**

 

Lydia yanked open Danny’s door, striding in, trying to stay rational. 

“Hey, Asshole! Where were you? I waited for you and texted-no reply. I had to eat dinner with most of the lacrosse team! The beginning of the semester you said, dinner at 8 every night. If you forgot because you and Ethan were having sex I’m going to castrate you both.”

Lydia didn’t do rational very well. 

She knew the pitch of her voice was giving away the fact that it was more anxiety, old insecurities and bad memories than anger. She just hoped the threat of castration distracted him enough. 

“Lydia, Lydia. Breathe.” Danny was suddenly there in front of her, hands on her shoulders. 

She sucked in a breath, staring back at him, cursing her ridiculousness. “Sorry.”

“No, I am. I should have texted you,” Danny apologized earnestly. 

“You should have,” she muttered haughtily. 

He was too nice for her. He was too nice for anyone. 

“What happened?” she asked, voice level again. Stepping away from Danny, she glanced around the common area of their apartment looking for clues. 

“I broke up with Ethan.”

“Oh,” Lydia paused, thinking. It was her turn to watch him, critically. Find his tell. 

“How are we feeling about that? We have ice cream and alcohol. We can get shitfaced; I don’t need to go to my 8 o’clock lab tomorrow-I’m pretty sure I’m smarter than the grad student teaching it.”

Danny barked out a surprised laugh, dimples appearing. 

“He was cool about it but it was a break-up. And he wasn’t a bad guy but he was in a bad situation. I needed to do this,” he answered, nodding to himself, “It was the right thing, right?”

She hadn’t been a huge fan of Ethan but she knew that didn’t particularly matter right now. 

“Ok, question answered-alcohol and ice cream it is,” Lydia announced, walking into their tiny kitchen, “And yes you did the right thing. Plus I already invited Isaac-the curly blonde kid- and his friends so now you can pursue that.”

Danny made some grumbling, grudging sound of gratitude.

Lydia pulled a couple of bottles out of the freezer and another from their cupboard, grabbing two shot glasses. “Shots first then we’ll start on the good stuff.”

“The good stuff?” Danny asked laughing.

“Yeah, we’re college students, not barbarians.” She passed him a full to the brim shot glass before pouring one of her own. 

“Cheers,” Danny saluted. 

Downing the first shot with a wrinkled nose, Lydia quickly refilled their glasses. 

Four more and Lydia was heading to the freezer again for the ice cream. “Come on let’s take this to the couch.”

Lydia dropped heavily onto the couch beside Danny. She poured them both a glass of wine and opened up the ice cream between them. 

“Okay talk. Why’d you break up with him now,” Lydia asked. 

“He came over completely wasted, upset, trying to decide if he should dropout out of school and go home. Apparently something else happened with his brother. He wouldn’t or couldn’t tell me. But-I…”

Danny sighed, taking a long drink, before continuing, “I brought him back to his house. And I told him I couldn’t date him anymore. That it wasn’t going to work. But that, in the morning, that any time really, he could talk to me if he wanted. I-I just want help him but I can’t date him. It’s not good for him or me.”

Like she’d said too good for anyone. Lydia patted his knee. “I’m sorry it hurts now. But I think you did the right thing and you’ll be able to see that later.”

“Thank you, Lyds.”

She took a long drink form her glass. 

“You’re good, Danny. You’re nice, like actually nice, and rational and undamaged. Don’t let somebody go and fuck that up, ok?”

Danny stared at her, sitting very still. Shocked, she thought. But it didn’t matter. 

He refilled their glasses, still silent and then relaxed into the couch and dug into the ice cream carton. 

“Everyone ends up a little fucked up eventually,” Danny finally said. 

“Probably,” she admitted. “That’s not going to stop me from trying to protect you.”

Danny laughed bitterly. “I’m fine. You don’t need to worry. We’re both fine.”

She just nodded, a little worried about what she would say if she opened her mouth. 

“I am sorry about dinner tonight.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lydia dismissed, pulling the ice cream to herself.

“Lyds,” Danny pressed, elbowing her. 

“Fine. It was shitty. It felt like high school, where they were all expecting me to just giggle like some hollow Barbie doll,” Lydia admitted.

“I know you know this, Lydia, but you aren’t that girl anymore. And it doesn’t matter what any of them think.”

Lydia didn’t reply. She didn’t really know how to express to him how glad she was to have him in her life, how normal he made her feel. 

Silence fell over them. She could hear the sound of people outside their apartment, the almost constant sound of laughter, doors opening and closing. Overlaid on that, the sound of sirens, heading to someone else’s tragedy. 

“We need music. Yes, yes,” she decided suddenly, pulling herself off the couch. 

The floor tilted unevenly. “Oh, wow. That’s fun.” 

“Got it?” Danny asked, laughing at her. 

“Of course, I’m Lydia Martin,” she told him, marching forward to the iHome. 

Lydia Martin. 

Lydia Martin. 

Lydia Martin. 

Music burst out of the speaker, calming her racing heart. The silence was such a frightening thing. 

“Come on. Up, up! We’re dancing,” Lydia cajoled, swinging her hips.

Danny laughed, getting up, singing along loudly to the song she didn’t know. 

“I’m not going to twerk,” he warned, grinning. 

“More alcohol then,” she declared, lightheaded and happy. 

Some indeterminate time later, six songs later, she collapsed back into the sofa. Something slow had come on and she was tired. Danny dropped down beside her, breathing heavily. 

She breathed and thought about the glow-in-the-dark stars she used to have on her ceiling. Actually it was the whole solar system, accurate and everything. Of course. 

“What?” he asked. 

Lydia felt herself tap her face. “Hmmm. I don’t know. I drank too fast.” She laughed.

Danny laughed too, giggling, really. He drank the rest of his glass. 

“I made the right decision. I did, I did, I did,” he paused, forehead wrinkling, “But I’m sad about it which is selfish, right? Cause I-I did the breaking up. Breaking up is hardddd tooo dooo.”

He laughed again and mumbled, “We’re-We’re such lightweights.”

\------------------

Lydia startled suddenly, sitting up and looking around confused. According to her phone, two hours had passed. She hadn’t even realized she had dozed off, lost somewhere in her mind. Danny was still sitting up, humming to himself. 

“Sad music. It’s playing, Lydia. And it’s sad. Why?” Danny whined. 

“That is sad. I’m sorry,” Lydia told him gently. Judging by by the way he was speaking, he’d kept drinking after she fell asleep. She didn’t think she was slurring but she couldn’t be sure. She still felt…hazy. 

“Do you think it’s a-a-a-a- problem that at the first sign of trouble our generation’ssssss solution is head to alcohol?” Danny asked. 

Lydia sat up and rubbed her face. She needed water or another drink for this. 

“You’re going to lecture me now, aren’t you? You’ve got the face on,” Danny groaned. 

“You say ‘our generation’ but we don’t really know what our parents and grandparents were like, do we? I say they were just like this, like us. They just keep telling us, acting like they were better and at some point our generation developed a complex and we believe it now. They were no better than us. I mean where do you think we learned to do this, to drown all our feelings, hide them, avoid them. This isn’t a generational thing, this is a human thing. We don’t know how to handle our emotions.”

“That’s smart. You’re so smart, Lyds.”

“I know.”

“Good, good, good. ‘M tired,” Danny sighed.

“Sleep then, idiot.”

\------------  
Lydia woke up to the barest morning light filtering through the window. Just before six then. She was stretched out across the couch, feet in Danny’s face. He was curled on the floor, head pillowed by the couch. On the coffee table she could see the wet, sticky mess they had made of the ice cream and alcohol. 

She sat up slowly, letting the woozy feeling wash over her. She waited until she felt stable enough to stand and then dragged herself into the kitchen. 

After taking two glasses of water and a bottle of aspirin into her bedroom, she went back for Danny. 

Prodding at him with her foot, she whispered, “Danny, come on. Time for bed. You’re going to feel like death if you stay here.”

“Just leave me. I already do,” Danny hissed, pressing his head into the couch cushions.

“Come on. I’ll help you,” Lydia continued. 

“Nope. My bed’s too lonely. Hate sleeping alone.”

Lydia grabbed at his arm, helping him up. “I know. You’re sleeping in my bed. Now get up before I lose my patience.”

“Thank you,” Danny whispered, leaning heavily against her as they shuffled into her bedroom.

“No problem. We take care of each other, remember?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh. Just. Thanks guys. I'm going to try to finish this for you all. 
> 
> If you like cats and crying you can find me here-ooopsydaisy.tumblr

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyy, hope you liked it! I quit watching pretty early on (like 6 episodes into season one hahaha) so none of the new characters will be in this, except for Kira, even though I've never actually seen her in an episode. That's what AU's are good for though.


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